Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Liberal party in addressing recent changes to local government legistation has spoken out in support of a proper selection review for the City of Melbourne.

Opposition local government spokeswoman Jeanette Powell said the changes to voting laws for Melbourne City Council did not go far enough."We have asked for a complete review of the City of Melbourne elections, it is the only local council that doesn't have an electoral review every second election," she said.

The fact that the Labor Government has not initiated a proper review of the electoral changes and external boundaries of the City of Melbourne is an indictment against the current minister for Local Government, Richard Wynne. There are a number of anomalies in the act that must be addressed before the November 2008 municipal elections. Richard Wynne rightly had come under criticism for the government's refusal to include the City of Melbourne in a review process as every other municipality, except Melbourne is required.

The last review of Melbourne's electoral system, which introduced the direct elecion of the Lord Mayor took place in 2001/2, was held by Bob Cameron behind closed doors and submissions were never published.